Gita Acharan

K rishna says that anyone who follows the teaching of the Gita with shraddha will be joyful and will be liberated from karma bandhan (bondage of action) (3.31). The word ‘ Shraddha ’ is formed by the combination of two words, ‘ Shrat ’ and ‘ Dha ’. ‘ Shrat ’ means truth, and ‘ Dha ’ means to hold or sustain. Thus, Shraddha means holding or abiding in Truth.   Shraddha is usually thought to mean belief or faith, but it is something beyond and the closest meaning is trust. In this state, we are free of doubt and all our questions dissipate. Humanity once believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth, until it was discovered that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Thus, belief is dependent on external factors while shraddha is an internal quality. Secondly, belief exists alongside its polar opposite, disbelief, whereas shraddha transcends both. Thirdly, shraddha is not blind faith, in which one is unwilling to listen to the other side. Shraddha is the assimilati...

  A fter elucidating about sankhya (awareness) (2.11-2.38), Krishna says that He would now explain yoga (or karma yoga ), the practice of which will free one from karma bandhan (bondage of action) (2.39). While explaining sankhya yoga , Krishna makes Arjuna aware that he is that indestructible chaitanya (consciousness) which doesn’t have death. From this verse onwards Krishna starts explaining the same through karma yoga . Thus, karma bandhan and yoga need to be understood in this context. The literal meaning of Yoga is union and this word is used in many contexts. Krishna mentions equanimity as yoga (2.48) where attachment to success or failure is abandoned.   The emphasis of Krishna is to maintain equanimity towards pleasure and pain; winning and losing; and profit and loss (2.38). Karma - bandhan is the accumulation of impressions, pleasant as well as painful, created by our actions and their outcomes when we respond to them with attachment, aversion, o...